Who am I?
by wolfchic011
Summary: Becky Botsford was just a normal girl with a love of words.  Normal that is, until one fateful day when several events reveal a destiny she never imagined.  A prequel to The Prophecy of the Star.  Rated K .
1. Chapter 1: A Normal Day

I know I should be doing my work and also working on _Prophecy _but I've had this idea for awhile and it just wouldn't leave me alone... Besides, procrastination is so much fun and sleep is overrated...

Basically, this story is about young Becky discovering her super powers. The reason her name is in parenthesis in the title is because I'm think about writing another prequel about the character I created in Prophecy with the same title/premise.

Anyway, I'll try not to give anything from Prophecy away in this but we'll see where it goes.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: A normal day

"Becky! Come on! You don't want to be late for your first day of school!"

The musical voice of her mother floated up the stairs jolting Becky out of the book she was buried in. "Five minutes until the bus! That means you too mister."

Her brother TJ's voice sounded from the other side of her bedroom wall. "Aww mom… do I hav'ta go to kandergarden?" Becky winced at the mispronunciations. She didn't know why, but it always bothered her when people (especially her brother) mispronounced easy words. She knew he was only 4 but come on. When she was that age she could pronounce "hullabaloo", "guarantee" and even "persnickety". She stared at her ceiling. _Well, maybe I'm just better with words than TJ is…_

"Becky! Did you hear me? Two minutes!"

Seven-year-old Becky Botsford sighed and slowly closed _The Princess Triana Saga Book 1:_ _Princess Triana and the The Magic Wish_. "I'm coming mom!" Before she got up, she gave the book a slight caress on its spine, dreaming of lying there all day, lost in a world of magic wizards and beautiful princesses, reading all those beautiful words…..

"BECKY! I think I hear the school bus!" Her father was calling now. And he was never mistaken about what he heard. She glanced at the unicorn clock next to her bed: 8:44 am slowly changed to 8:45. "BECKY! The bus is HERE!" She quickly grabbed her new backpack and rushed out of her bedroom, now frantic. _I am NOT going to be late on my first day of 2__nd__ grade!_

As she raced out her bedroom door, something happened. Everything around her became blurry and indistinct… she felt like she was moving… but her feet didn't seem to be touching the ground... Suddenly, she found herself standing next to her father downstairs, vision back to normal, hair slightly windswept, as if she had been running at full speed. Her father had only just closed his mouth from yelling. He jumped when he realized she was next to him. "Wow! That was fast!..." He patted her affectionately on the head. "I bet you'll be quite the track star in high school.. Just like you're old man!" He walked around the kitchen island, leaving Becky blinking in the hallway, heart racing, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The clock in the kitchen was just changing to 8:45. _But it's the same as mine…. How did I get down here so fast?_

She had no time to ponder the question. "Becky! Go!" Assistant District Attorney Sally Botsford had the door open and was brandishing a brown paper bag at her daughter. Outside, a huge yellow bus honked its horn impatiently and began to rev its engine. Becky walked as quickly as she could to her mother, afraid to run in case the blur happened again. Her mom thrust the bag into her hands, planted a wet kiss on her cheek than pushed her out the door. "I love you honey! Have a good day!" Becky nodded, still thinking about the blur and began to walk towards the bus. "Becky!" her mother hissed at her loudly. "Run or you'll miss it!" Startled, Becky broke into a flat out run. Halfway across the yard she realized two things: one, she was running again and two, there was no blur. She was so stunned she stopped short. _What is going on with me…?_

A honk from the driver reminded her why she had been running and she hurried to the bus doors. A kind- faced blonde woman in thick glasses smiled at her. "Sorry kid, but I don't want to be late." She closed the doors behind Becky. "Find a seat." She said gesturing to the rest of the bus. Becky peered down the bus aisle, feeling anxious. The back seemed like a long way away. Along that endless corridor, all she could see were many high seats and a few stubby heads of other kids poking out from some of them. The bus was crowded and raucous; backpacks spilling into the aisle and kids leaning across seats, talking and shouting. Becky swallowed a nervous lump in her throat. There didn't seem to be anywhere she could sit, nor anyone she knew to sit with. She turned back to ask the bus driver where she should go and to her enormous relief, saw an unoccupied seat right next to her. She hurried to sit down heart slowly settling back to normal. Once she was settled, she felt good enough to be cordial.

"What's your name?" she asked the bus driver shyly.

The driver signaled and revved the engine again. "My name's Leslie." She said as she pulled away from the curb. Leslie turned to ask the girl her name but realized she wasn't listening, she was watching her house disappear as the bus moved. Leslie shrugged and mumbled to herself in an irritated monotone: "Why do I bother being nice? None of these kids ever listens to me…"

Becky watched her house moving away, trying to see her mom in the doorway one last time before she left. A small movement caught her eye. There was something in the tree next to her bedroom window. She peered out the bus window, trying to get a better look but whatever it was moved out of sight suddenly. She turned her head to look for the thing, but the bus made a sharp turn and she was thrown back against the seat. By the time she was able to look out the window again, her house had disappeared from sight and there was no sign of the thing.

The bus quickly left the suburban streets behind and entered the city. Having no one to talk to, Becky found herself staring out of the bus window a lot, watching the people and the buildings pass by. To pass the time, she indulged in her favorite hobby (after reading): imagining she was flying. In her imagination, she rose from her seat and burst out the bus door, taking to the skies with ease… leaving behind all her troubles and thoughts…. she then raced the bus down the road, zooming gracefully over rooftops and diving down the sides of buildings, feeling the wind whip her hair every which way, feeling truly free! Swooping up into the great sky to dance with the clouds….! Becky sniffed quietly and let her fantasy fade until she was back on the bus seat. Thinking of flying always brought tears to her eyes. She didn't want to cry in front of these other people for any reason. _It would be so wonderful if I could fly for real…_

Becky stared pointedly out the window after that, resisting the urge to "fly" again. A couple of times, she caught a slight movement out of the corner of her eye, like something was following the bus. But every time she tried to get a good look, the bus would turn, blocking her view or, when she did get a good look, nothing would be there. Eventually, she gave up and sat back against the seat as the bus bumped and jerked its way down the city streets. Becky stared at her hands as she pondered what a strange morning it had been. _First the blur, then this thing….. what could it be?_ Maybe it was like the blur; just a one time, unexplainable phenomenon. Why would anything follow her?

The bus pulled into the long parking lot of Woodview Elementary. The bus driver named Leslie put on the brake and cracked the doors open. Becky took a deep breath. _Here goes…_

_

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_

I promise this story will be shorter than Prophecy! Speaking of which... I should go work on that...

Let me know your thoughts on this and the other planned prequel. _  
_


	2. Chapter 2: Friends

This chapter is long over-due and I apologize for that. I had writers block on it for weeks and I was working so hard on Prophecy that I momentarily pushed this aside. But I realized that, as I start to reveal Prophecy's secrets, they will make more sense if this too is out there for the readers. This chapter is a little slow and far too short for the amount of time I spent on it but rest assured the action will pick up next chapter.

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Chapter 2: Friends

"Alright students," The teacher called to the class. "It's time for lunch! Please put down your materials, grab your lunches and go outside to the playground!"

Becky put down her markers and stared at the bland drawing before her. _It looks kind of like a book….. right?_

She turned to the girl next to her, a blonde girl with dreamy eyes who was still sketching something absentmindedly in a notebook in front of her.

Becky cleared her throat nervously. "Excuse me, can I ask you something?"

The girl turned her wide eyes on her as if only just realizing she was there. "Sure I guess so…" her voice was remote and distant.

Becky held up her drawing. "What does this look like?"

"ummmm….. ummmmm…." The blond girl's eyes went from the drawing to Becky's face several times as if she were trying to figure out what she should say.

"It's very nice!..." she said finally.

Becky gave her a polite smile then turned to pull out her lunch. When she looked up again, the shy girl was gone, already out the door heading towards the playground.

As she stood up with her lunch in hand to follow the rest of her class, something on the other girl's desk caught Becky's eye. Her companion had left her notebook open and several colorful flowers and butterflies jumped off the pages towards Becky. She stared in amazement. The sketches were amazing. So lifelike…..

"Becky? Come along." The teacher was calling to her. Everyone else was already out the door. Becky blushed and hurried to catch up.

* * *

The playground was loud, colorful and crazy.

Becky hugged herself anxiously as she gazed out over the crowds of children. This was worse than the bus. Everyone seemed to be moving in every direction at once. Second graders drew stick figures in chalk on the pavement, fourth graders gathered at a rowdy table, swapping sandwich halves, fifth graders threw a bright red ball around, yelling at each other. There were no familiar faces. How could she possibly fit into this?

In a stroke of luck, Becky noticed an empty table at the edge of the mob, close to the bushes and trees that bordered the playground. She carefully made her way around the other students to reach this haven.

Once she was finally seated at the table, Becky looked around a little. The mob looked less scary from here. What had once looked like blurs of color distinguished themselves as boys and girls. She even thought she recognized one of the boys in her class, chasing a soccer ball past the swings.

Feeling better, Becky opened her lunch bag and let out a small groan. She pulled out her sandwich and stared at it blankly. She must've gotten T.J.'s lunch. The pungent odor of cashew butter assaulted her nose and she winced. _Mom must've grabbed the wrong bag this morning…_ she thought. _Poor T.J. is probably starving because he can't eat my peanut butter sandwich…_

There was no point in wasting a perfectly good sandwich. Even if it made her gag. Becky sighed and unwrapped the sandwich. As she opened her mouth to take a bite, she heard a whimpering sound. Startled, Becky closed her mouth and turned her head. It seemed to be coming from the bush next to her. Curious, she peered into the leaves. A pair of bright, beady black eyes stared fearfully back at her.

"Hello?" Maybe there was a shy kid hanging out in there.

The eyes blinked and the bushes let out a strange chattering sound.

"Why don't you come on out?" She asked the eyes, starting to pull a branch aside to get a better look. She was lonely too; maybe they could be friends…

There was a rustling sound and the eyes disappeared. Something landed on the table with a thump. Becky spun to face it, and then smiled in surprise.

It was a monkey.

He was covered in soft brown fur and a friendly smile shone from his face. Becky found herself smiling back.

"Hi there!" She said cheerfully. "What are you doing around here?"

Understandably, the monkey did not reply. His eyes dropped to the sandwich in her hand.

"Are you hungry?" Becky asked him.

He nodded, licking his lips as he stared at her sandwich.

"You can have this if you want it. I don't really like cashew butter anyway."

The monkey looked from the sandwich to her several times, as if weighing his options.

Becky placed the sandwich on her open hand and extended it slowly towards him. "Come on…" she coxed. "I'm not going to hurt you…"

Slowly, the monkey approached her, eyes dating from her face to the sandwich in her hand

He placed his hand on top of the sandwich and looked up searchingly into her face. He chattered briefly. Then, in one swift motion, the sandwich was in his mouth and he was swinging away into the trees.

Becky sat there, hand still frozen in its outstretched position. Had that monkey just…?

"Oh wow! Did you see that!" A loud, Asian boy was suddenly standing next to her. Several leaves were falling out of his raven-black hair.

Before Becky could reply, he turned on her with curious furiousness.

"How does it feel to be attacked by a large squirrel on school grounds?" There was a small tablet clutched in his hand and a pencil stuck out at an odd angle from behind his ear.

As their eyes met, Becky felt her tongue tie itself in a knot. "What?" She managed to choke out.

"That thing that stole your lunch!" He was staring at her…

Becky fumbled to talk. "Umm… oh.. it…. He didn't steal my lunch. I gave it to him."

"Oh…" the boy seemed disappointed. After a second, he shrugged and held out his empty hand to her.

"My name's Todd. Todd Ming. But I'm trying out a new name: Scoops. Whaddya think?" He said all this rather quickly as he grabbed her hand and pumped it up and down several times.

Becky found her voice again as he let go of her hand. "Any… any particular reason…?" She asked him wondering why on earth anyone would possibly like the name Scoops….

"I'm a reporter! Every reporter gets scoops, get it? What's the scoop?" He laughed heartily at his own joke. Becky found herself faking a chuckle to match his.

"What's your name?" Todd/Scoops asked suddenly, like he was trying to catch her off guard.

Becky felt her heart catch for some inexplicable reason. "I'm…. I'm Becky." She said and pulled a small, nervous smile. "Becky Botsford."

Todd leaned forward. "Maybe you'd like to be my assistant?" He asked her. It almost sounded like a request.

"S…sure…!" Why was she stuttering?

"Great! Come by the newsroom sometime and ask for me! I'll take care of you!" The way he said it was so compelling…..

A loud bell rang, signaling the end of recess and lunch. Todd walked away, casually throwing a wave over his shoulder at her that made Becky's knees go weak.

Becky followed the other students back inside. Her heart was still beating unnaturally fast from Todd's actions but her thoughts refused to focus on anything but the strange monkey. What had scared her most was the noise the monkey had made as he had scampered away. It hadn't been a scary noise or even a loud one. No, what scared Becky about the noise was that it hadn't sounded like a monkey noise. She had understood it. Like it was speech.

The monkey had said _thanks._

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I will try not to take so much time on the next chapter. I have a much clearer idea of how that one goes than this one. Please review!


	3. Chapter 3: HEEEEELLLPPPPP!

I'm back!

I bet you can tell who's going to show up this chapter… that's all I'm going to say.

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Chapter 3: HEEEEELLLPPPPP!

Somehow, it was a constant comfort to Becky to see the strange monkey peering through the window at her throughout the day. It was like she had a guardian watching over her.

Watching him watch her helped her pass the time after she finished her book during quiet reading time (and had to wait the remaining half hour for her other classmates to finish). Becky had always been a fast reader.

The talking monkey just sat in the crock of the tree outside the window, watching her carefully, like he expected her to do something. The only time he moved was during snack time when he placed his face right up against the glass and stared hungrily at the cookies and juice the kids were eating. Becky discretely slid a few cookies into her pocket for the monkey, hoping she could get him to follow her home. Maybe she'd be able to talk to him more.

"Oh wow…. Look at that!" Becky whipped around. The blonde girl who sat next to her was pointing at the window, eyes wide and astonished. Becky felt her breath catch. _She was pointing towards the monkey._ Every head in the class turned to follow her finger, Becky's included.

The monkey was gone.

"Oh…." The girl sounded disappointed. "I could've sworn I saw something…"

As everybody else turned back to their snacks mumbling, Becky continued to stare at the window in disappointment. _He's gone…_ She was about to turn away too, when a flash of brown caught her eye. The monkey was swinging back into his seat. As Becky smiled at him he _winked. _He resumed his vigil of her. Becky turned back to her cookies, finding herself glad for some reason that this was her little secret and hers alone. _But still, _she thought. _ A monkey that talks and __**winks**__? That's not normal…_

"Okay class" the teacher said as the clock neared 3pm. "Good job today. Before we dismiss you, the principle would like to say a few words."

"Thank you." A tall gray-haired person came from the back of the room, where she had been sitting unnoticed for the past few minutes. She stood in front of the class and adjusted her spectacles slightly. "Good afternoon students! Because this is your first of several years here at Woodview Elementary, I wanted to welcome you personally."

Becky was confused. The person addressing the class certainly looked female but the voice was unmistakably male…

The principle smiled at all the slightly baffled students, seeming oblivious to this particular quirk of hers.

"My name is principle…"

Suddenly an agitated looking man wearing heavy glasses and a sweater burst through the door. "HEEEELLLLLLLPPPP!" He screamed to no one in particular. "There's a giant robot attacking the city!" Then he looked around at all the startled kids and a confused look spread over his face. "Wait…" he asked (again to no one in particular) "Is this the police station?"

The principle slowly shook her head. "No, this is the elementary school. If you want the police station, it's on the other side of town, across the street from the city park…."

The man suddenly seemed to realize that he was in a classroom. He smiled sheepishly. "Oh! Sorry, I just moved into town. I get lost so easily…" He gave the principle a small wave and a smile. "Thanks! I won't forget!" He took a deep breath, threw his hands over his head and the smile immediately melted back into his panicked expression. "HEELLLLPPP!" He screamed as he turned and ran back down the hallway.

The principle tried to pick up her track again. "Well…. That was weird…. Let's hope that never happens again…." A loud bell rang, accompanied by the sound of cheers and hundreds of feet running joyously for the exits.

The principle shook her head slightly but she was smiling. "Alright students you're dismissed!"

* * *

Even though the same bus that had dropped her off would've gotten her home much faster, Becky chose to walk so it would be easier for the monkey to follow.

As it turns out, she needn't have worried because as soon as she left school property and entered the downtown city streets, the monkey appeared at her side and eagerly stared up at her.

Becky laughed. "I bet I know what you want…" She took the cookies out of her pocket and handed them to the monkey. He grabbed them without hesitation this time and began to shove them into his face as he walked beside her.

"Wow. You sure can eat!" Becky said as the last cookie disappeared.

The monkey let out a series of chatters and shrieks but as they fell on Becky's ears, she suddenly knew that they meant: "_Yes, well I was hungry_."

Becky stopped walking and stared at the monkey.

"_What is it?_" He asked her as he wiped cookie crumbs off his chin.

"How are you doing that?" She whispered to him.

"_Doing what?_" He replied, now licking his fingers.

"Talking!" Becky exclaimed, amazed at his nonchalance.

He rolled his eyes and began walking down the street again. "_Becky, I've been talking all my life…_"

She stumbled after him. "Wait. How do you know my name?"

Now he stopped and looked back at her. "_You don't remember me?_" He asked.

Becky shook her head. "I met you on the playground this afternoon…"

The monkey's face fell. "_I was afraid of this…_" He looked up at her searchingly. "_Do you remember anything?_"

"Anything of what?" Becky asked feeling her heart start to beat faster. The skin just below her collarbone (where her only birthmark lay) was starting to itch obnoxiously. Why was she feeling this way?

The monkey studied her curiously as she scratched the itch. "_Maybe I can jog your memory…"_ He began, sounding hopeful. "_I'm Captain Hugg…_"

He was drowned out a familiar scream of: "HEEEEEELLLPPPPP!" The man in the sweater was back, screaming his head off as he ran past Becky and the monkey. "There's someone robbing the gold shop!" He yelled, his arms thrown over his head in panic. "WHERE'S THE POLICE STATION?" And he was gone, running down the street.

Becky sighed. If there was one thing she really hated about living in Preposterocity, it was the apparent incompetence of the local law enforcement.

She turned back to the monkey, the itch fading. "What were you saying?"

He shook his head. "_Just call me Huggy for now._"

They continued walking but the monkey named Huggy said nothing else. In fact, it almost seemed like he was watching her out of the corner of his eye as they walked. She ignored it, hoping he would pick up the conversation again.

Suddenly, Huggy stopped. Becky looked around. They were walking down one of the city's busiest streets but strangely, not many people seemed to be out.

"_Do you feel that?_" He asked her.

"Feel..?" But just as she was about to ask, she felt it too.

The ground seemed to be shaking. Becky stumbled as the tremors slowly grew closer together.

Suddenly, a giant slab of metal crashed down in front of them, making them both jump back. Becky's eyes slowly rose upward, following the slab where it joined a thinner, leg-like piece of metal. The leg joined a body, than a neck, finally ending in a head.

Becky's scream caught in her throat.

It was a giant robot.

Huggy was shrieking wordlessly. Dimly, Becky was aware of him turning around to run away. But her eyes were locked on the gargantuan machine in front of her, unable to move… unable to think.

With a creak of metal, the robot bent over, arm extending towards her. Suddenly, she found she was able to move. Legs scrambling, she turned to run. But it was too late. With a snap, the robot closed its giant hand around her and began lifting her off the ground.

"_Becky!_" She heard the monkey screech as she struggled to break free. As it lifted her higher and higher above the street, Becky pushed harder and harder but to no avail. The metal fingers around her were stronger than steel and clenched tight. She could hardly breathe.

_What is it going to do with me?_ She wondered. Fear gripped her tighter than it ever had. _Help… HELP!_

She couldn't tell if she was imagining it but the birthmark on her chest seemed to be getting hotter… a stinging pain seemed to come from it. Or maybe that was just the heat of the metal crushing against her skin…

The heat filled the star shaped mark, turning it into a burning emblem on her chest. If she could've seen it she felt like it would be shining brighter than the sun…

As the stinging began to spread across her chest, Becky stopped struggling. She was definitely not imagining it: her whole body suddenly itched like fire-ants were crawling over her skin. Only it was not her skin that itched… the itch was **inside**…

Her body reacted. Her arms shot outward and strained against the metal barrier holding her in one sudden, potent motion.

The fingers of the robot burst apart like a snapped rubber band and flew in opposite directions.

The relief of her freedom washed over her. She had never felt this strong before… _How… How did I…?_

But as the broken fingers crashed into opposite buildings and fell to the ground, Becky suddenly realized what she had forgotten.

With a scream, she fell back towards the pavement below.

* * *

Cliffhanger!

I must say, "help guy" has been my favorite character to write about thus far.

I'll have to have him show up again…


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